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A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015

32 weeks old - Glorious food

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It is such a joy seeing you enjoy food. I am so glad we decided to try baby led weaning. It's messy and takes patience but watching you explore food and figure out how to feed yourself has been amazing.

You love rockmelon, oranges, mandarins, sweet potato, cauliflower, cucumber... pretty much everything. When you're really excited about something you squeak at me until I give it to you, if you're enjoying what you're eating you chat away about it and sometimes even offer it to your dad and I to try and when you're sick of eating you turn around and look over the back of the high chair, ignoring all our attempts to get you interested.

We now sit at the table every night and enjoy dinner together, something your dad and I never used to do and I love this new ritual that we've created because of you. I'm so excited about all the family traditions we're going to create as you grow. 

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A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015

31 weeks old - Sidekick

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My snug little bug. These days my walks are a different then they used to be, gone are the days of zoning out to music but I am so glad to have such an adorable companion these days. We chat together and sing to each other. I've started to take more notice of what's around us on our walk as I stop to point things out to you. It's slower, but so much better.

It seems like every day you learn something new and become more and more engaged with your dad and I. You've started noticing when we're laughing and join in with a funny fake laugh, which just makes your dad and I laugh harder and in turn you laugh more too. You've just started to wave too, it's not consistent yet but it's great. You are such a magnificent member of our team.

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A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015

30 weeks old - Little adventurer

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This week has been one of those ones where I've seen so much change in you. You're officially sitting now, you can balance so well by yourself and to an extent correct your balance when you lean to far one way or the other, though you haven't yet figured out how to get in to a sitting position by yourself. You're also starting to move about a bit, very slowly and very short distances but with a combination of wriggling and rolling, pushing and pulling, you can inch your way towards things that catch your interest. And there is just so much to be interested in! You're starting to interact more with other babies, using your new found mobility to take away their toys or snacks, grab at their hands or face - just like you do to your dad and I. It is suddenly so clear that you find these interactions completely delightful as you chuckle to yourself or look up at me with a big grin as if to say "thank you for this new little person to play with mama". We had your six month check up at the beginning of the week, the day after you turned 7 months in fact. You are nailing every developmental milestone for your age and beyond and are off the charts for height and weight at 10.08kg and 73cm. Some days I look at you and think you're huge and other days I am reminded how small you still are. When I look back at photos I remember how big I thought you were then but looking back you were oh so small, I try and remember that these moments we have now are the ones I will be looking back on one day soon. You have some mild eczema that we took you to the doctor for too but that is clearing up quickly with less frequent showers and by using a more intense moisturiser during your nightly massage.

I took you to a music and movement performance designed specifically for babies as a part of the ComeOut festival with some of the other yoga babies. It was honestly one of my favourite experiences we have shared yet. You were just so alert and engaged, sitting up completely straight, squealing with delight, singing away and chatting to the performers as you waved your arms about. You were honestly one of the most engaged babies there, other people commented on it too, and it was completely amazing to see. I was glowing with pride, you blow me away every day my darling girl, but this was particularly special. That night one of the yoga mums emailed me to say how lovely we are to watch together, what a special bond we have and what a great mama I am. We've been having a seriously tough time at night and other babies we know whose parents aren't as in to attachment parenting are sleeping pretty much through the night now so sometimes it is hard for me not to wonder if I've made you too reliant on me for sleep, but comments like that help me remember why I parent the way I do. You are a happy and secure baby and I know we'll get there with sleep soon, we're doing such a good job with everything else. I'm so proud of all three of us.

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A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015

29 weeks old – You and I

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This bond we have is so very special and I am so glad your dad caught this moment for us while we were out on a picnic in the botanic gardens to make the most of the last warm days before winter. 

I think you're starting to understand the concept of hugging and kissing, you definitely hug back and sometimes reach out to initiate the hug yourself and I think you're starting to do it with kissing too. You're quite independent and so impatient to be on the move but I'm glad you've got a snuggly side too, these quiet moments when you cling to me are just too lovely for words. 

You had your first fall recently, off the bed in your room, landing softly on the quilt and cushions below, not hurt but very shocked. I felt so guilty, I shouldn't have turned away from you while you were on there now that you're so wiggly. I hate that slowly you will start to realise that I can't protect you from everything, that the world isn't completely safe. At the moment you throw yourself from one side to the other reaching out for toys whenever we try sitting you up by yourself, without any realisation that if it weren't for one of us catching you, you would fall over. It's a beautiful thing to watch, your complete innocence, when I'm frustrated at other people now I remember that they were a baby once too and it helps me to reassess the situation. You've made me a better person, in so many ways, I am happier, more at peace with the world, more generous, more humble, more loving... more everything.

 

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A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015

28 weeks old - Holiday

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You were a complete superstar for your first interstate trip. The plane didn't seem to bother you at all, in fact you seemed to find the whole experience very exciting indeed. You were the perfect little travel companion as we wandered around Melbourne for a few days, catching up with lovely friends (Steph, Pam and Dubs).

We spent the first night at Stephs apartment and as her mattress is on the ground we were at the same level as your portacot so I removed one of the sides so that it was almost as if we were sharing the same bed and you actually did almost as well as when we sleep together so your dad and I decided we will try a similar set up at home. You weren't so keen on the cot once we moved to the apartment we stayed in for the rest of the trip and so you shared the bed with us, which we had expected might be the case. Our apartment was lovely and light and in such a good location that we didn't need to venture to far away. You happily hung out in the ergo as your dad and I explored countless shops and just as happily munched away on food when we stopped for a meal. You're doing so well with eating and while it makes eating out a much messier affair, it's so fun to see you delighting in the new flavours I offer you from my plate, alongside your favourite cucumber and sweet potato which were your staples for the trip. For the most part we all managed to stay happy and relaxed. I'm proud of how all three of us managed it all.

Seeing you play with Steph and her boyfriend Tom was so very delightful. Watching you develop your own relationships is really special. They were so lovely with you, and so happy to have us in their new town. Like with Rhys and Carley in Sydney, I'm sad that some of my favourite friends live interstate and so aren't as constant features in your life if they were here but there are reasons why these people are so dear to me and when I see you with them, and the care and attention they give you, those reasons are only reinforced.

Thank you for making our first interstate holiday as a family so delightful my dear one. I can't wait for all the other adventures we'll have together.

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A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015

27 weeks old – Book Worm

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I hope one day you love reading books as much as you currently love chewing on them. Even why you were a couple of weeks old being read to started to frustrate you and as you became more in control of your arms it became apparent you felt it was a bit of a tease, us holding thus bright shiny object out of your reach. Now that you have so much strength and control it can be hard to get through a book without you pulling it into your mouth as you grunt thoughtfully at it. If you're grumbling an almost fool proof way to cheer you up is to hand you a book to hold all by yourself, though now you often wave your toys around gleefully when you've got them and just after this photo was taken you gave yourself a good whack under your eye. Occasionally though you will sit and listen to me read and I get a glimps of the future, sharing so many adventures with you through books as I loved doing with your Granny and Grandpa.

This week has been tough. You battle sleep so hard every night and wake frequently. We are all exhausted and for the first time I am really questioning my parenting. I'm sorry we haven't nailed this sleep thing yet little bug, your dad and I are doing the best we can. I hope we get there soon.

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A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2015

26 weeks old – Up High

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You love being on our shoulders, it's like you know what a big kid thing to do it is. No matter your mood as soon as we put you up there you start grinning away and as of this week you've started making these little squeaking noises so when I took this photo you were doing that too.

This week has been all about food. Your first food was a few sticks of steamed carrot. You we're quite sure of the texture or taste, kind of cringing away from it but going back for more. We've since tried cucumber, broccoli, pumpkin, apple, honeydew melon and banana. Your favourite is definitely cucumber, followed by honeydew and banana. Baby led weaning is a slow and messy process but I am mostly loving it. You get especially in to food when we're all sitting around a table together and you're a bit distracted. It's so lovely watching you start to figure out the best ways to hold your food and the other day you even offered some to me which was so sweet.